A majority of government-sponsored students coming from
financially unstable families are likely to send their Helb money home to
support their families.
Unhealthy relationships between university students and
gullible first years: Male students waste their Helb and pocket money in
unstable relationships with their female counterparts. Additionally, gullible
first-year male students are cheated into spending their money on continuing
female students who milk them dry before leaving them.
Rent demands: Few guardians follow up with their students to
know whether they have accommodation inside the university. Today, no single
university can afford to accommodate all its students. This forces a majority
of students to seek accommodation outside the school where they pay
unsubsidised rent every month.
Unbudgeted-for course demands: Student life is not just
about paying school fees, accommodation, and meals. Students spend a
significant amount of money every day printing out documents, typesetting
coursework, and photocopying notes. Most guardians never plan for such
expenses.
Lack of financial knowledge: A majority of
government-sponsored students handle huge amounts of cash for the first time
when they go to university. These students are likely to waste away the Helb
money on expensive smartphones and other unnecessary things. Students are
increasingly losing money through betting.
There are also cases of guardians who take students’ loans
to start businesses and never pay them back.
To help our students, universities need to strengthen the
office of career services, counselling departments, and to continuously provide
financial literacy skills to help students manage the money they get from Helb.